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Can MRI Scan Be Done Without Contrast For Kidney Stones?
Question: I have a mri scan scheduled Wednesday for ms. I have had kidney stones in the past and not at all sure whether my kidneys are doing bad or not right now. My neuro wants me to get with and without contrast but I also tend to get side effects bad. If I chose to get a mri without contrast could this still show up something. Also what would you do if you wanted a patient to get contrast but they chose not too?
Brief Answer:
Plain MRI would also show up lesions.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query.
I have noted your dilemma, that you want to get the MRI scan without contrast in view of possible side effects due to contrast.
Plain (without contrast) MRI would also show up lesions of multiple sclerosis (MS) especially on T2W and FLAIR sequences.
The importance of contrast is to differentiate between active (new lesions) from old (inactive lesions). New lesions take up contrast and enhance with that.
So, if your MRI is clean (no lesions), then, contrast would not be needed. On the other hand, if there are lesions on plain MRI, then, we can always do contrast MRI at a later date.
I hope my answer helps. Please get back if you have any follow up queries or if you require any additional information.
Wishing you good health,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, India
Click on this link to ask me a DIRECT QUERY: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar
My BLOG: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.in
Plain MRI would also show up lesions.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query.
I have noted your dilemma, that you want to get the MRI scan without contrast in view of possible side effects due to contrast.
Plain (without contrast) MRI would also show up lesions of multiple sclerosis (MS) especially on T2W and FLAIR sequences.
The importance of contrast is to differentiate between active (new lesions) from old (inactive lesions). New lesions take up contrast and enhance with that.
So, if your MRI is clean (no lesions), then, contrast would not be needed. On the other hand, if there are lesions on plain MRI, then, we can always do contrast MRI at a later date.
I hope my answer helps. Please get back if you have any follow up queries or if you require any additional information.
Wishing you good health,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, India
Click on this link to ask me a DIRECT QUERY: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar
My BLOG: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.in
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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